Looking to add a fish, maybe a wrasse

So I am rethinking my fish list for my 55g.

I previously had some questionable fish on this list of prospects and have decided there are a couple on there which have no business in my 55g.

So I have
2 Mocha Clowns (which have been together for long before they started squatting in my tank)
1 Lawnmower Blenny

That's all, pretty sad right!

So my wife wants a Naso Tang. Her second choice is a Mandarin.

So I have been working on my pod population since day one because I know these are what she wants and I had to explain a Naso Tang would look like this in our tank

So animal cruelty aside I am looking for something to liven up my tank which can easily coexist with the fish in there and the Mandarin.

I think some wrasses are really pretty but don't know a wrasse from a hole in the ground. I know there are some wrasse lovers out there so I would need suggestions on this end.

Other suggestions are very welcome. I want suggestions to think outside of the box of fish i know.

Greatly appreciated!!

 

A wrasse will compete for pods so I wouldn't if youre set on the Mandarin. Copepods are the food of choice so dosing phytoplankton may be required unless you plan on constantly adding them.

 

will you have corals? a sump? if no corals then coral beauties are neat, perhaps a toby, a shrimp goby combo (not sure if it will work with the blenny) clown gobies are fun. but yeah they are all "with caution" in terms of housing with corals...aside the goby shrimp combo. maybe a damsel?

evolved is the guy you want to turn to for wrasse suggestions. im loving my two mccoskers.

funny photo btw

 

LOL, oh the shame.

Sounds like you could use some color. I do not know my wrasses either. They sound like a really good option though, I like the Fairy wrasses, my favorite wrasse though is the Mystery. I am not a Mandarin fan, a fish that causes me stress while I worry if it's getting enough to eat is not enjoyment to me.

 

When I had my 55, I had 2 clowns, lawnmower blenny, midas blenny, engineering goby, and a purple firefish.
I'd stick with gobys or blennies IMO

 

midas blenny is a really cool fish. I also love flame hawks - both of these are very active and colorful.

 

I had read somewhere that flasher wrasses didn't actively seek out pods and wouldn't compete for them. This could be completely wrong, i don't know much about wrasses.

I will and do have coral. A dwarf angel was on my previous list but don't feel i want to take a chance with it at this point.

I am hoping evolved stumbles onto this thread and gives me some advice toward wrasses, I know he is a wrasse guy but not sure of others.

I am looking for color and movement. My clowns kinda stick to the anemone and don't venture too far unless there is food involved and the LMB just bolts and hides and doesn't really swim. My little boy likes to watch the fish swim so I want to give him something to actually watch. He seems less than interested in coral at this point.

I have thought of the midas blenny because i really liked the one you had. Are they pretty active? I like firefish but they don't really swim around either.

I will have to look into a flame hawk. I don't know much about them, thanks for the suggestion!

 

Bump for the wrasse lovers!

 

perfect fish for your son - flame hawk - they look like little cartoons and they watch you when you venture near the tank - swim and perch throughout the tank - he would love that and the midas is very active and always swimming and a brilliant yellow color - I guess I repeat myself lol

 

So it seems there are sometimes problems with Midas Blennies and Lawnmower blennies. In my 55g this could not end well.